Libraries. in Milan a media literacy project to combat the dissemination of false news
A free program is available on the PCs of the 26 city offices to allow users to evaluate the authority and credibility of information sources. In the coming months, seminars and webinars with Newsguard professionals
Milan, February 27 2020 - The Milan library system is the first in Italy to join the free media literacy project of Newsguard, an American startup founded in 2018 that provides reliability ratings and information sheets of thousands of news and information sites based on nine criteria widely recognized apolitical journalists.
Without filtering any content, and leaving users free to browse the entire network, the Milanese libraries therefore offer tools that allow users to correctly orient themselves on how and where it is best to get information, thus playing an active role in countering the diffusion of content and false information.
The Milan Library System has in fact made the free media literacy program available in all 26 Milanese branches, installing on the PCs of the librarians and on the public ones used by users the plug-in which reports the evaluations and information sheets prepared by the journalists of Newsguard. The cards, relating to thousands of Italian and international sites, provide users with elements to understand which sources they are getting information from and in a few minutes have an overview of the credibility and transparency of the media consulted.
After the seminar held in December at the Sormani library with over 50 librarians, in the coming months the library system will organize, together with Newsguard journalists, other seminars and webinars, dedicated to both librarians and users of the system.
Updated: 27/02/2020